Bigger Red: Huge terrain expansion adds 1,000 acres, 22 more runs

New York Times readers are informed that the ever-funky Kootenay ski town of Rossland, (No. 8) joins heavy hitters lsuch as Rio, Amsterdam, and Istanbul as a hip, exotic, under-the-radar place to visit. Indeed, Rossland is the only winter destination in the Top 10.

Photograph by: Submitted

For decades, “slackcountry” skiers at Red Mountain have been (legally, it must be said) ducking the area ropes and skiing over on Grey Mountain. Now, they can get a ride to the top.

Over the course of the summer and fall, crews have been working to install the new Grey Mountain chairlift, a fixed-grip, (non-high speed) four-person people mover that expands Red’s skiable terrain by 997 acres. This puts the "local legend" hill firmly in the Top 20 of all North American resorts in terms of terrain scale.

In addition to this expansive new terrain, skiers and snowboarders will be able to ski off the Grey Mountain summit in any direction they choose — a true 360-degree experience. The Grey Mountain expansion makes Red the eighth-largest ski area in Canada and, the 18th largest in the U.S. out of approximately 500 resorts.

"History shows that resort-terrain expansions entice new, passionate visitors," says Fran Richards, vice-president of marketing. "We expect a significant increase in lift ticket sales as a direct result of this new, lift-accessed terrain — and that obviously spells good news for the local and regional economy. Red is already here and already a huge draw for the region. We want to grow, but only in a sustainable, organic way that respects the experience — a ski experience that we all love and that is harder to find these days."

"Destination skiers have unique needs," explains CEO Howard Katkov. "They come for the powder and fall-line vertical, absolutely, but they also need coffee in the morning, groceries to fill up that condo fridge, rental cars, gas, beds to sleep in and a few beers après-ski! They need entertainment, fine sushi and maybe a nice bottle of wine to take back to their room. This ultimately means more jobs in the Rossland area, a more robust and diverse local economy, and more of the word-of-mouth that put Red on the map in the first place."

"This expansion into Grey will keep the pace and passion of the Red Mountain Resort experience intact while offering expanded intermediate terrain selections for families and mixed-skill groups," Katkov continues. "This new Grey terrain alone is about the same size as Mount Baker. It has to be skied to be believed. There’s the same fall-line runs that Red is famous for, some new tree runs that already seem like favorites, and plenty of mellow glades on the southern slopes."

Hardcore snow sliders will love the challenging new chutes and steeps off the north and eastern slopes of Grey. "We feel the new lift will enhance the experience for all our customers," says Katkov. "Lift-lines have never been a deterrent around here ... and the new lift on Grey will spread guests out even more. Local powder fiends have nothing to worry about and new visitors have a lot to look forward to."

Located just eight kilometres north of the Canada-U.S. border, Red Mountain is a 2.5-hour drive north of Spokane International Airport; 3.5 hours from the Kelowna,airport, 30 minutes from Castlegar ,and 20 minutes from Trail regional airports. Last year 70,000 Powder Ski magazine readers selected Red and both Rossland and Nelson as the ultimate ski town in the 2012 Powder Magazine Ski Town Throwdown.

New York Times readers are informed that the ever-funky Kootenay ski town of Rossland, (No. 8) joins heavy hitters lsuch as Rio, Amsterdam, and Istanbul as a hip, exotic, under-the-radar place to visit. Indeed, Rossland is the only winter destination in the Top 10.